I've done some preliminary dubbing/recording using the new Panny DMR-EH75V (VCR/DVD/80GB HDD Combo Unit) and here are a few observations:

I have confirmed that like the ES15, the EH75V indeed records at Full D1 maximum resolution of 720x480 (vice the Broadcast D1 704X480 of legacy Panny recorders). Suprisingly, I have found no compatibility issues yet with SP mode DVD-RAM created by the EH75V. I was able to dub from a VHS tape directly to the HDD (one touch dubbing in SP mode) and then I dubbed that SP recording to a DVD-RAM disc. I split and shortened that recording using the deck's editing features then combined the split recording on the DVD-RAM using Panasonic's PC-based MovieAlbum 3 SE editing application without problem. MovieAlbum recognizes the EH75V recording as having Full D1 resolution and had no compatibility issues with it. I then took that DVD-RAM and was able to high speed dub it to four different model Panny HDD recorders (the EH50, E95H, the E100, and the legendary E80) ALL without problem. I was then able to high speed dub that recording from all four recorders to DVD-R without issue (although the E100 choked on finalizing an 8X Fuji DVD-R, but that was a media issue not an issue with the source recording).

In summary, no compatiblity issues between legacy HDD recorders (EH50, E80, E95, E100) with DVD-RAM recordings made from the EH75V and high speed DVD-R dubbing capability was retained even after editing/splitting the source recording. Also, no apparent compatibility issues with MovieAlbum 3SE.

Up next, comparing the higher resolution LP mode of the EH75V (720X480) with the EH50 (704X480) and the E100/95/80 (352X480).

Mixing and matching Full D1/Broadcast D1 SP/LP recordings on a single DVD-RAM and doing some editing/combining using MovieAlbum (trying to break MovieAlbum or the disc's compatibility).

Testing the EH75V Full D1 files with TMPGenc DVD-Author.

All-in-all I am a happy camper and like the user interface and flexible one button 6-way dubbing interface (the HDD combo also allows VHS dub editing on the HDD before burning to DVD-R, real time saver).

Looks like some old Panny HDD recorders are headed for eBay...

Vic

Interesting stuff! Thanks for sharing! Looking forward to more of your comments as I will be in the market for a 2006 HDD recorder later on :)

I am pretty new to dvd recording. I just picked up a DMR-EH75V, and I am wondering if I should record from my tivo to the hard drive at XP mode, then burn the dvd at whatever flex recording I need. I've recorded a couple of movies from the tivo with the flex record set to the minutes I would use to burn the dvd. Does it make any difference in the end? Thanks for any info.

I split and shortened that recording using the deck's editing features then combined the split recording on the DVD-RAM using Panasonic's PC-based MovieAlbum 3 SE editing application without problem. MovieAlbum recognizes the EH75V recording as having Full D1 resolution and had no compatibility issues with it. Well Vic, I'm certainly happy to read this report of yours. Your previous speculation that full D1 resolution might break DVD Movie Album SE had me more than a little worried. Movie Album is my workhorse program for RAM editing (of which I do a lot of).

I look forward to reading about your other testing.

I am pretty new to dvd recording. I just picked up a DMR-EH75V, and I am wondering if I should record from my tivo to the hard drive at XP mode, then burn the dvd at whatever flex recording I need. I've recorded a couple of movies from the tivo with the flex record set to the minutes I would use to burn the dvd. Does it make any difference in the end? Thanks for any info.

This depends on whether you want to use high-speed dubbing from the HDD to the DVD or not.

If you want to use high-speed dubbing and fit the whole movie on one DVD you have to record it at its duration. For example, if you have a 90 minute movie, you would need a 90 min FR mode. However, some people recommend that you leave some buffer on the DVD, so for example you could do 95 minutes.

If you do not want to use high-speed dubbing, then you have more options. There is plenty of debate as to the picture quality effects of an additional encoding and whether XP provides significant benefits over SP. I do not have enough information to comment on this. If you want the absolute best picture quality possible, this is something you may want to look into.

Personally I would record at FR mode to the HDD and then high-speed dub to DVD unless it was a special recording that I wanted at the super best possible resolution. But usually I am not demanding on picture quality and I have an old analog TV :-)

Yes, I do want to high-speed dub. I will just record to the hard drive when the wife isn't watching tv, then I can burn the dvds anytime. Thanks for the info.

To WildBC > to maximize quality on your final disc you want to do a high speed dub from the HDD, this avoids an encoding step during your dubbing process (and is faster than a real time dub). Therefore, you want to initially record your source program to the HDD in whatever mode you intend for the final copy (e.g., SP>SP, FR>FR, XP>XP, etc...). So your intent to do high-speed dubs is the way to go rather than XP>FR.

As a follow-up, I tested LP mode with the various HDD recorders (EH75V LP is 720x480, EH50 is 702x480, and all others are 352x480). No problems mixing and matching (even combining two different resolution LP mode recordings) using movie album. In a side by side comparison of the EH75's clip vs. an E95 352X480 clip (Formula 1 race from Speed Channel) the EH75 showed less artifacting than the E95 even though the EH75V's clip was at a much higher resolution. Panny must have significantly improved their encoder to achieve the higher LP resolution with LESS artifacting than the old 352x480 LP mode of the E95. I need to do some side-by-sides of the EH75V (720X480 LP) vs. the EH50 (704X480 LP) with high action clips. Will report back.

TDA accepted a full rez SP VRO from the EH75V and I successfully authored/burned a DVD-R from the DVD-RAM source file.

My next trick will be to feed a combined contiguous Broadcast D1/Full D1 clip (i.e, a Full D1 clip combined with a broadcast D1 clip using MovieAlbum) into TDA to see if it chokes...

Once quirk - there is no one touch dubbing (Panny calls it "copy" on this machine) button on the remote, only on the unit's front panel although you can access all copy functions via the menu system using the remote. So far, though, I like the layout and the UI is practically the same as the EH50's (which I like).
Vic

Thanks Vic,
That all makes sense wrt DVD Movie Album. It was built to handle VR mode file editing and .VRO files can be multi-resolution. I remember in the early days of my E-85 experience I recorded some programming with the hybrid VBR turned on. Although DVD MA had no trouble with them, the version of TDA I used at the time choked. I seem to remember the titles were divided on import every time a resolution switch was made. It's been a while and I've never bothered playing with it since.

TDA Choked on the multi-resolution clip. Not suprising. Jury is still out on the relative picture quality in LP mode between the EH75, EH50, and the E95. I'm still searching for a good reference clip.

TDA Choked on the multi-resolution clip. Not suprising. Jury is still out on the relative picture quality in LP mode between the EH75, EH50, and the E95. I'm still searching for a good reference clip.

One possible test could be a channel with a moving ticker at the bottom, such as ESPN*, CNN, CNBC, CSTV, etc. The tickers are quite sensitive to compression, and I noticed that NR seems to smoothen/obliterate them a bit if they use small fonts, and they are crowded and moving fast :-)

TDA Choked on the multi-resolution clip. Not suprising. Jury is still out on the relative picture quality in LP mode between the EH75, EH50, and the E95. I'm still searching for a good reference clip.I see hoops has posted something similar to what I'm going to suggest.

Record a NASCAR race and observe the detail of the continuously scrolling running-order banner at the top of the screen. In SP mode (or XP) on my E-85 it is perfectly legible and the PQ is as good as the original broadcast (on a 32" sony TV). I don't know about LP because I never use anything less than SP, but my boss gave me a recording in EP mode to try on my player, and you can barely tell there are even letters there.

Since a NASCAR race lasts for over 3 hrs, you will have plenty of identical source to do all kinds of tests on.

vferrari...thanks for the reply, that was exactly the information I was looking for.

WildBC - glad I could help. You were headed in the right direction based on ncaa's help and I just wanted to back up what he was saying.

ncaa/Kelson,

Thanks for the tip re the tickers, I'll check that out next chance I get. I've run out of testing time this weekend tho...

Vic

VF Have you confirmed my contention that the 2006 HDD pannys will not make a DVD'R lossless from the 2006 panny non HDDs using RAM. Excuse my apostrophe instead of a dash' my keyboard needs replacing.

VF Have you confirmed my contention that the 2006 HDD pannys will not make a DVD'R lossless from the 2006 panny non HDDs using RAM. Excuse my apostrophe instead of a dash' my keyboard needs replacing.

No, I don't have a non-HDD unit (don't ever intend on buying one by the way). Since the EH75V has a HDD, I couldn't test this issue. As I discussed above, discs recorded in the EH75V were able to be HS dubbed to DVD-R in all my legacy Panny HDD based DVD recorders.

As my dvd burner of my Acer Laptop was broken and I needed a new TV and DVD player anyway. I bought yesterday the DMR-EH75V because of all its features. Really great thing, I love all the functions.
As I am fairly new to this stuff and the circuit city sales guy told me I could hook up my laptop and burn directly files to the dvd writer, I am trying to use the DV IN but no recognition on my laptop of the dvd drive.
I am wondering now if it really is possible to do this or if I just have to by a new Laptop DVD writer for my Aceter travelmate.

Any input welcome!

Is there a USB connection to the recorder? DV In definitely won't do it. Other than USB connection or a Network connection, I don't think this will work. I've only heard of one other unit with a connection that allowed access to the video on the hard drive, and it was only at reduced quality.

As I am fairly new to this stuff and the circuit city sales guy told me I could hook up my laptop and burn directly files to the dvd writer

You were misinformed by the sales guy. This is simply not true. The DV port allows you to import DV video from a camcorder. Theoretically, you could import DV video from a PC, but Panasonic has traditionally not supported DV via PC, I have yet to test it out myself. You can't simply use the DV port to directly burn "files" from the PC.

I posted this in another thread, but I found to little known features on the EH75v that are intersting:

mpeg2 video file copy from SD card. Sort of useless since my PC has DVD-RAM, plus I could not get it to work even with mpeg2 files generated by the recorder itself.

divix playback support: plays back divx files burned to DVD-R just great. Neat feature.

I posted this in another thread, but I found to little known features on the EH75v that are intersting:

mpeg2 video file copy from SD card. Sort of useless since my PC has DVD-RAM, plus I could not get it to work even with mpeg2 files generated by the recorder itself.

divix playback support: plays back divx files burned to DVD-R just great. Neat feature.

Thanks! The divx playback may bode well for the people wanting divx playback on the EH55.

Does the SD video copy work for the HDD or the DVD-drive as well?

I just purchased a ES45VS last night. I have it hooked up to my 42 PX60U. All is well but please tell me that there is a way to get rid of the annoying black stripes at the top and side of the screen (?)

If the video you are watching is of a wider aspect ratio than your display, then you must either have black bars above and below (letterboxing), and lose some of the sides (pan/scan). 4:3 displays have an aspect ratio of 1.33:1. 16:9 displays have an aspect ratio of 1.78:1. So if you are watching something with, say, a 2:35:1 aspect ratio, the black bars are necessary if you want to see the full width of the video.

If the video you are watching is of a wider aspect ratio than your display, then you must either have black bars above and below (letterboxing), and lose some of the sides (pan/scan). 4:3 displays have an aspect ratio of 1.33:1. 16:9 displays have an aspect ratio of 1.78:1. So if you are watching something with, say, a 2:35:1 aspect ratio, the black bars are necessary if you want to see the full width of the video.

If that's the case then why am I able to watch my regular cable with the screen filled at either zoom, stretch or normal? All I want to do is reproduce what I see when I'm watching cable on a DVD or HDD.

No doubt regular cable is sending you 4:3 or 16:9 content only.

How does the DMR-EH75 handle dubbing VHS tapes from the internal VCR to dual-layer media? Does it require that layer 1 be finalized before recording can continue to layer 2? What I'm getting at is can I start dubbing a 4-hour tape to disc without stopping halfway through to finalize the first layer, or would I have to dub first to the HD and then to disc?

How does the DMR-EH75 handle dubbing VHS tapes from the internal VCR to dual-layer media? Does it require that layer 1 be finalized before recording can continue to layer 2? What I'm getting at is can I start dubbing a 4-hour tape to disc without stopping halfway through to finalize the first layer, or would I have to dub first to the HD and then to disc?

To record to double layer, you need to record to HDD first. Then you can dub the whole thing in one shot.

Thanks guys and I need to apologize - I am getting local and non-HD channels in full screen. I guess I panicked when I wasn't able to get the channels I wanted the most and didn't bother checking the others. Once I get over the buyers remorse and accept the fact that I just paid 480.00 for a DVD VCR Ill be just fine.

I had a feeling it was a simple error on my part. One thing... what difference does it make it the cable coming from the wall goes into the cable box first instead of the DVR first? Ive tried it both ways and there isn't much difference that I can see.

I'm going to leave it alone for the 24 or so hours to see if the TV Guide works.

I'm sorry for this noobishness but what is this EZ-Sync and... cant I just use that?

With EZ Sync™ HDAVI Control, you can switch on EZ-Sync-compatible Panasonic DVD recorders and TVs (connected via an HDMI cable) to their proper settings with a single button on the remote and still have a hand free for popcorn.

And... if I reset my DMR-EH75V will I lose whats on my hard drive?

I'm sorry for this noobishness but what is this EZ-Sync and... cant I just use that?

And... if I reset my DMR-EH75V will I lose whats on my hard drive?

Don't know about the EZ-Sync, but resetting the recorder will NOT affect any programs on the HDD.

Don't know about the EZ-Sync, but resetting the recorder will NOT affect any programs on the HDD.RG - I know you don't have satellite, but was the option for D* or E* in the TVGOS setup mode in the Panny? And do you know if it's IR blaster will work with a Dish 322 receiver ( I would assume so, but my E85 doesn't)? I just want to be sure, because I may get the EH55P when (if) it comes out.

RG - I know you don't have satellite, but was the option for D* or E* in the TVGOS setup mode in the Panny? And do you know if it's IR blaster will work with a Dish 322 receiver ( I would assume so, but my E85 doesn't)? I just want to be sure, because I may get the EH55P when (if) it comes out.

On the TVGOS of my Panasonic E-500 and E-65, there was no option for satellite receivers. I assume that the new 2006 HDD recorder, the EH55, will have it based on the TVGOS web site. It appears the EH-75 does now. Has anyone tested it?

On the TVGOS of my Panasonic E-500 and E-65, there was no option for satellite receivers. I assume that the new 2006 HDD recorder, the EH55, will have it based on the TVGOS web site. It appears the EH-75 does now. Has anyone tested it?I was under the impression that you had the EH-75, and I just wondered if you saw it in the setup or mentioned in the manual. Maybe it was someone else.

I was under the impression that you had the EH-75, and I just wondered if you saw it in the setup or mentioned in the manual. Maybe it was someone else.

No, sorry, I only have the E-500 and the E-65. vferrari has the EH-75, maybe he can answer your question about satellite choices in the TVGOS setup menu.

I just picked up the DMR-EH75VS from CC (Memorial Weekend on-line special, 5/25 - 5/27). I decided on it for 2 reasons: vferrari's summary and I needed it by Sunday (in-store pickup and web-only sale). Now I have to figure out how to get it set up correctly.

I would have liked a bigger HD and a more flexible recording (not just the discrete steps - XP, SP, etc.), but the fact that it does the full D1 resolution of 720 x 480 is more important to me.

Rammitinski (and rgazzara) -- TVGOS works for both DirecTV & Dish Network. However, the programming coordination between the STB and the EH75V only will work with DirecTV STBs (see pages 23 & 24 of the manual - available on-line from Panasonic).

Rammitinski (and rgazzara) -- TVGOS works for both DirecTV & Dish Network. However, the programming coordination between the STB and the EH75V only will work with DirecTV STBs (see pages 23 & 24 of the manual - available on-line from Panasonic).

Thanks. That's good news for the people who receive satellite TV. My guess is that the TVGOS on the EH-55 will work with satellite also.

I just picked up the DMR-EH75VS from CC (Memorial Weekend on-line special, 5/25 - 5/27). I decided on it for 2 reasons: vferrari's summary and I needed it by Sunday (in-store pickup and web-only sale). Now I have to figure out how to get it set up correctly.

I would have liked a bigger HD and a more flexible recording (not just the discrete steps - XP, SP, etc.), but the fact that it does the full D1 resolution of 720 x 480 is more important to me.

CT, See my response to your PM.

Note for the benefit of the thread readers, that Panny does have flexible recording FR mode that bridges the gap between the discrete modes (XP, SP, etc.) by adjusting the avg. bitrate automatically to fill the avail space on a disc. So that you are not just stuck with XP=1 hr disc, SP=2 hr. disc., you can have FR mode fill a disc with a 1.5 hour program, for example.

vferrari -- Thanks for your response. It helped me out of an available learning time crunch.

BTW, I was under the impression that the FR mode (recording to the HDD) did it's adjustment before the editing, rather than after. If it does its adjustment after editing (during recording to the DVD), then that would be preferrable over the SP mode, on 2 hour programs, which usually have about 20 to 30 minutes of commercials.

Yes FR mode does its thing before the fact. SP is a solid two-hour mode. After you've edited SP content on the HDD you will indeed have some space left over on the dubbed disc but the visual difference between a 1:40 min recording in FR mode vs. SP mode is negligible so you are not really missing anything visually and having a few hundred megabytes left over on a 40 cent DVD-R is not worth worrying about IMO. Another option is to record to the HDD in XP mode, edit, and then dub to the disc in FR mode, but then you are losing the advantages of high speed dubbing (no-reencoding, less dubbing time, and custon chapter stops) and you've probably negated any quality advantage afforded by the higher quality 1:40 min FR mode (vs. SP mode in the previous example) bitrate because the video is re-encoded from XP to FR.

Thanks, that's exactly the conclusion that I came to, from reading the manual (I'm getting cross-eyed :eek: ).

One thing I really liked about the EH75V is that the manual was readily available from the Panasonic web site (the Sony HX715 manual is available too, but the new Pioneer 640H isn't - it's not even in their manual list).

Thanks. That's good news for the people who receive satellite TV. My guess is that the TVGOS on the EH-55 will work with satellite also.First, there is no EH55 listed. They have a E55 (no hard drive) and an EH50 (100GB HDD). Neither of those have a reference to TVGOS in their manuals (http://www2.panasonic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/vOISearch?storeId=15001). It looks like that is part of the extra money that they get for the EH75V (in exchange for a slightly smaller HDD).

EDIT: Oops. Their description of the EH50 says that it does have TVGOS (but for OTA only, although it does mention that it will work with a Cable box, but not Satellite TV). A manual search (on-line) missed it (I didn't download the manual though, and the search function may have missed it). I recommend that you download the manuals for the E55 & EH50 and do a proper search directly form the PDF file - I eyeball scanned the manuals to find this information. Both the E55 and EH50 manuals say they use VCR+ for the TVGuide function.

The EH55 is a brand new 2006 model that was just released this week. I rekon the manual will be posted on the Panasonic site shortly.

BTW Here's a more direct link to the Panny list of DVD Player/Recorder manuals:

http://service.us.panasonic.com/operman/findmanual.aspx?cat=DVD

Ok, it's not on their site yet. Hopefully, it will have the same TVGOS functionality as the EH75V.

The TVGOS website lists the EH55 and the EH75 as being compatible with satellite. I'm just kind of disappointed that it won't be as fully compatible with Dish, which is what I have. The TVGOS site DOES say that it will work with my model tuner, though (322) - I just don't know for sure how well after hearing all this. If not, I hope the Sammy will, although I really don't want to take a chance on a Samsung recorder if I dont have to.

Maybe the IR blaster on the Pannys will not change the channels on a Dish tuner. Or it won't turn the tuner on or off. If that's the case, it's not a real biggie, as I can just leave the tuner on and schedule the programs on it just as easily (by highlighting them), as per the website's instructions.

Has anybody had any problems with the TV Guide feature working with Time Warner? The C|NET review succeeded in getting it to work but no luck here (yet) - and that IR blaster... when I turn off the panny my channels go all over the place.

Hmmm.... when the channels are changing, I believe they are looking for the host channel for the TVGOS info. If you're using a cable box, and you're set up right, your IR blaster should be changing the channels on the cable box, NOT on the unit. Plus, you always have to leave the cable box ON for this to work. Do you have the cable box running into the recorder through a line input, such as L1 or L3? Is it configured that way in the initial setup? Have you entered a code for the IR blaster to work the cable box in the setup? If the channels are changing on the unit itself, something is not set up right.

I have been "borrowing" this unit from a friend and I have found an interesting quirk.

I also have a dmr-eh50 and i have many DVD-RAM's that i have burned off of it. When i take a RAM that i have made from the 50 and upload it onto the 75V. it puts an icon denoting that I may only high speed dub to a -R/-R DL and /-RW. anything to a +R and +RW has to be in real timne (slow) speed.

I called panasonic and they said that it had something to do with high speed dubs to "+" discs messing up chapter points and other non-sense.

Has anyone else run into this?
Does panasonic endorse the "-" discs over the "+" discs?

is this something that is in all of the newer generation panasonic dvd recorders?

let me know

Has anyone else run into this?
Does panasonic endorse the "-" discs over the "+" discs?

is this something that is in all of the newer generation panasonic dvd recorders?

let me know

Panasonic is definately in the "-" camp. The 2006 models are their first generation to fully support +R/+RW. Their first +R support was with some of the 2005 models.

Docism -- When I turn On my EH75V it sets my DirecTV STB to channel 000-0 and I have to push the "Prev CH" (go-back) button on the STB remote to get back to where I was. This doesn't seem to affect anything else. You do have to leave your STB on all the time (mine is normally on anyway). You also have to leave the Panny OFF for 24 hours to get the TVGOS information downloaded to it.

Apparently, the Panny will read the Dish Network version of TVGOS but can't program the channels, like it can for DirecTV. You would need to look at the manual (the EH75V is on the Panasonic web site but the EH55 is not, even on the link -- http://service.us.panasonic.com/operman/findmanual.aspx?cat=DVD -- that vferrari provided).

Rammitinski -- I agree.

Hey Guys,

I'm about to bite on this because I not only need a VCR/DVD-R/DVR, I also need Dish Network control.

I just needed a clarification on whether or not this can be done for sure using the TV Guide On screen thing. I read through the thread, but am a bit confused on what the final answer was.

This Dish Network DVR functionality is mainly for my mom (my dad cares only for the VCR to DVD recorder functionality). She already has a STB/DVR from Dish Network (the DVR-501) that's mainly used for active watching/deleting because that's the easiest for her to use. And she'll keep using that has her primary fix for Dish Network DVR stuff.

But as a secondary Dish Network DVR, even if its a bit harder to use, I could definitely use this functionality and make her happy.

Hey Guys,

I'm about to bite on this because I not only need a VCR/DVD-R/DVR, I also need Dish Network control.

I just needed a clarification on whether or not this can be done for sure using the TV Guide On screen thing. I read through the thread, but am a bit confused on what the final answer was.

Read the TVGOS web site concerning Dish satellite receivers here. (http://www.vgi.com/support/echostar/)

Supposedly, TVGOS on the EH-75 will work with satellite receivers, but you need an answer from someone who has successfully got the EPG to work.

Good luck.

I'm a brand new user of the EH75V. I'm also extraordinarily ignorant of this entire subject. Never had a DVD recorder for TV and so on. I still have problems figuring out how to respond to text messages my daughter sends me on my cell phone. :)

I've got a digital cable box, Samsung 40" LCD which is quite recent and has a multitude of inputs/outputs on the back.

I have the cable line going to the EH75V, then a coax back to the cable box. Composite (?) (red/white/yellow) from cable box to EH75V, and composite (?) going from EH75V to TV. I also have a Monster HDMI from EH75V to TV. I have the IR blaster set up (hopefully correctly).

The TV Guide appears to work once I let it run unattended overnight. However, I can't seem to use it too well...I go to a program and hit Enter on the EH75V remote and nothing happens. This may be very related to my recording problem.

I can record a VHS tape to HDD and burn a DVD from the HDD although I apparently haven't figured how to do it without playing the whole movie...I know I read there is a fast way to do it. That can wait.

I can record any television show/movie channel to the HDD (haven't tried On Demand yet) but ONLY if I am watching the channel.

I tried manual recording and through the TV Guide. But, I can only record the channel the TV is on.

So, it appears that the EH75V isn't "synched" with the TV somehow? I entered the TV code at one point (guessing what it was) but there is no where to verify what I input (that I can find) in the EH75V setup screens.

I'm at a loss.

Any thoughts? Clues for a clueless one?

NOTE: Also, my digital cable box has a "tv guide" and "on demand" functions. When connected to the EH75V, I can't access those.

thanks,
Steve

1-I've got a digital cable box,


2-The TV Guide appears to work once I let it run unattended overnight. However, I can't seem to use it too well...I go to a program and hit Enter on the EH75V remote and nothing happens. This may be very related to my recording problem.

3-I can record a VHS tape to HDD and burn a DVD from the HDD although I apparently haven't figured how to do it without playing the whole movie...I know I read there is a fast way to do it. That can wait.

I tried manual recording and through the TV Guide. But, I can only record the channel the TV is on.


I'm at a loss.

Any thoughts? Clues for a clueless one?

thanks,
Steve
1-I don't own the E75 (got an E85, an older model), but from reading here, certain digital cable boxes don't work with all recorders...

2-which means the TVG will not be able to function properly.

3-There is a setting, 'DVD-R High Speed Reording' that needs to be turned on. On the E85, it is located in the SETUP menu undere Disc. If you don't set it to on, all dubbing from the hdd to a dvd-r will occur in real time-the length of the show. High speed dubbing of a 2 hr show takes roughly 15 minutes.

I have the cable line going to the EH75V, then a coax back to the cable box. Composite (?) (red/white/yellow) from cable box to EH75V, and composite (?) going from EH75V to TV. I also have a Monster HDMI from EH75V to TV. I have the IR blaster set up (hopefully correctly).

The TV Guide appears to work once I let it run unattended overnight. However, I can't seem to use it too well...I go to a program and hit Enter on the EH75V remote and nothing happens. This may be very related to my recording problem.

I can record a VHS tape to HDD and burn a DVD from the HDD although I apparently haven't figured how to do it without playing the whole movie...I know I read there is a fast way to do it. That can wait.

I can record any television show/movie channel to the HDD (haven't tried On Demand yet) but ONLY if I am watching the channel.

I tried manual recording and through the TV Guide. But, I can only record the channel the TV is on.

So, it appears that the EH75V isn't "synched" with the TV somehow? I entered the TV code at one point (guessing what it was) but there is no where to verify what I input (that I can find) in the EH75V setup screens.



Some things to think about ...

The TV code you entered is only to allow the Panny remote to control the TV itself (on/off, channel, etc.) I don't think that's related to what you are seeing.

I think the reason that the recorder only picks up what is on the Set Top Box (STB) is that it is only 'listening' to the cables that come from the back of the STB to the EH75. These are the red/white/yellow composite cables you mentioned. I am guessing that they are going into the IN3 set of inputs on the EH75.

From working with the EH75 manual, the way that Panasonic wants you to set things up is just the way you have done it. It presumes that the EH75 will 'listen' to what the STB is set to. The IR Blaster of the EH75 is intended to have the EH75 change the STB to the channel to be recorded.

To watch something other than what the STB is set to, the manual will have you change the *TV* (not the EH75) to 'listen' to another line. Unless you have 2 STBs, this will probably mean that you are only going to have the 'clear' unscrambled/analog channels (channels lower than 100, probably) coming into the TV from the cable.

This setup allows you to record any channel that the STB has, but with the limitation of only watching what you are recording, or switching the TV input to watch clear/analog channels only, so as not to disturb the STB.


You can connect things differently, but with a different tradeoff - and this is what I have done. I use a cable splitter on the cable coming out of the wall, and run one to the STB, and one to the EH75. The cables out of the STB go your TV as they did before. None go to the EH75. Then, the cables out of the EH75 need to go to your TV also. This presumes you have enough inputs on your TV to support two different devices.

The tradeoff here is that the EH75 will only be able to record the analog channels - likely those below channel 100. But, you will be able to watch ANY channel from your STB while simultaneously recording on another channel. You will need to switch the input on your TV to the one you want to watch - what's on the EH75, or what's on the STB. This setup fits my needs much better, as it is unlikely that I will want to record something above channel 100, but it is very likely that I will want to watch something coming through the STB while simultaneously recording a different channel.


Re: pressing enter while viewing a channel on the TVGuide on Screen (TVGOS) ... what should happen is that the IR blaster should cause the STB to jump to that channel, in your current setup. You might want to verify your TVGOS setup. Press the TVGuide button on the remote, and navigate to the Setup section. Your setup should say that you have both cable without cable box, and cable with a cable box. The 'without' is on the cable input (RF), and the 'with' is on the IN3 input (most likely - you will know for sure by looking at the back of the EH75 to see which inputs the composite cables from the STB plug into.)
There is a section in the manual that tells you how to reset the setup process (you press two buttons on the front of the EH75 until it turns off) which will then restart the TVGOS setup process from the beginning.

I would like to confirm a few things that are not clear to me from the manual.

Can all video out (DVD, HDD, and VCR) go through the HDMI at 720p?

Can all video out (DVD, HDD, and VCR) go through component out? Is it upconverted to 720p?

When using HDMI, does the component out also work?

When using HDMI video out at 720p, does the optical audio out also output the same audio that is on the HDMI?

The reason I am asking this is because I would like to put together a real simple home theater that my family can operate. So I am thinking about Panasonic AE900 projector, the EH75, and using my old Yamaha RX-V500 receiver (that does not have HDMI switching but does have component).

With this equipment I would simply connect the EH75 directly to the projector with HDMI. And would run optical audio from the EH75 to the receiver.

Thanks for any help.

I doubt the signal sent out the Component Video outputs is upconverted.

I really like the dmr-eh75v I bought but I've struggled to get it connected properly with the new samsung widescreen 40" lcd tv I bought and the motorola dct2224 cable box I have. Pretty sure its a dct2224 at least.

I have cable service with Insight in Bloomington, IN (in case any locals are reading this!). Insight advertises digital content (with the cable box). I have a couple movie channels as well.

A) I first followed Panasonic's instructions on connecting it all up and the cable Guide and while things appeared to work, the cable Guide and On Demand would not work.
Cable went to DMR and then to cable box. HDMI from DMR to TV. Composite cables to cable box and TV. A coax from rf out on cable box to TV.

B) Then tried to connect to cable box first and to DMR and after many connection swaps, got things to work except I never got listings on the DMR TV Guide which means I have to record manually always. Also got an annoying hum from TV.

A again) I have things back the way I had it originally....I don't really need the cable Guide because I have TV Guide. I lose out on a few perks like the "favorites" button and other things Insight programmed in, as well as On Demand, but not a big deal.

Problem is that any movie I record to HDD is limited in audio. When I did manual recordings from movie channels to HDD with hookup (B), the volume is fine. I can raise it to highly annoying levels or turn it down with TV controller.

With connection (A), my current one, the volume seems to only go so high and with TV controller at maximum, the sound is still quite low. This is recording with TV volume set to max when originally recording. This is a real killer, DVDs I have burned since switching back are basically useless to me.

The screen resolution seems much better with connection (A) though. With B, it seems I suffered signal loss somehow and things were pixelated at times. And then there was that nasty hummmm from the TV at odd times.

Another problem is that I get a "Listings Pending" often in the TV Guide. Not sure where that is coming from.

I think the Panny dmr-eh75v is a marvelous tool but I haven't gotten wrapped around it completely. One problem I am sure is that I am an utter novice at all this digital stuff, dvd recorders, electronic marvels, snaking cables goiing from device to device and all that. :) I had a regular TV with plain cable, no box, for years and years and this is all wonderful, new and currently a bit frustrating.

so only the HDMI output is upconverted? I dont have an HDMI connector on my HD receiver. whichk makes things hard.

THanks...

Here is a CNET review where users found the EH75V to be a good unit. (http://reviews.cnet.com/Panasonic_DMR_EH75V/4505-6474_7-31864416.html?tag=also)

I'm posting a CNET User review of the EH55 in that thread.

Has anyone had this problem about the low recording levels with the EH75V? When I record anything from my SA3250 STB to a DVD the resulting output level is very low. Its not that bad when I record from the RF output of the 3250 but when I record from the composite outputs of the 3250 (which are already low) the DVD becomes almost unplayable because of the low volume. Is there a way to increase the recording level of the EH75V or do I have a bad unit?

Thanks

Mo

Hi folks,

I just bought an EH75V yesterday (my first DVD Recorder) based on all the valuable information on this site. I haven't even installed it yet, so I have nothing to report based on experience as yet. However, in looking over the user manual, I realized that there was no easy way to keep track of which features work on which types of discs. Since it supports all 7 recordable DVD formats (-RAM, -R, -R DL, -RW, +R, +R DL, +RW), it can get confusing real fast! This information is spread throughout the manual, so I spent some time consolidating it into a single Excel spreadsheet. I thought this might prove useful to other users (or prospective buyers), so I have posted it here as an attachment (inside a zip file).

I can't verify (yet) that the unit actually performs in accordance with this information, but it does summarize what is said throughout the 104 page manual (it's a doozey!).

For ssalter and SloMo26 re: "low audio"...

Read this post, and some of the following, for a solution that worked for others. (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=7361382&&#post7361382)

You may not have the exact same menu names or choices, but the suggestions may help get you there?

Hi folks,

I just bought an EH75V yesterday (my first DVD Recorder) based on all the valuable information on this site. I haven't even installed it yet, so I have nothing to report based on experience as yet. However, in looking over the user manual, I realized that there was no easy way to keep track of which features work on which types of discs. Since it supports all 7 recordable DVD formats (-RAM, -R, -R DL, -RW, +R, +R DL, +RW), it can get confusing real fast! This information is spread throughout the manual, so I spent some time consolidating it into a single Excel spreadsheet. I thought this might prove useful to other users (or prospective buyers), so I have posted it here as an attachment (inside a zip file).

I can't verify (yet) that the unit actually performs in accordance with this information, but it does summarize what is said throughout the 104 page manual (it's a doozey!).


Very nice. Thank you.

I spent some time consolidating it into a single Excel spreadsheet. I thought this might prove useful to other users (or prospective buyers), so I have posted it here as an attachment (inside a zip file).


VERY NICE Mark! Thanks for this.

I'm a bit of newbie - My EH55 is due to arrive this week, and in order to gear-up, I wanted to get some media ready. Only problem was I had no idea what to buy (it's great that this unit can write to any format - but leaves the novice totally confused on which one to buy)

I've looked at your spreadsheet Mark, and here are my questions. Thanks in advance to anyone who can help verify / refute my assumptions:

1. My first assumption is that I should always use the HDD when recording a program instead of RAM. I had been reading that RAM could do chasing play and other features the HDD could also do, and I was confused about which to use for everyday recording. I am now assuming I should always use the HDD over RAM, unless I want to immediately play the program in another player. However, it seems that RAM will often not play in other players, and that if I record to HDD - I can always burn to -R/+R later for mobility. Is this right? So if this is the case - is there EVER a reason to use RAM over the HDD?

2. My second assumption is that when I burn to writable media for mobility or archiving - I should use -R on the EH55, instead of +R. When comparing the two, it appears as if everything is equal, except that the -R has more forward/back search speeds (5 on the -R vs 3 on the +R) and that the -R can also hold more titles and chapters (not that I ever see myself getting to 99 titles or 1000 chapters). I did notice that the +R can protect from accidental erasure - but when finalizing a disc - I doubt that 's a concern after it's finalized.
I also think I heard that Panasonic is "better" with -R because they've been supporting it longer, and also that older DVD players more often support -R.
Is this all true? Is there any reason I should be using +R over -R on the EH55?

Thanks!

1. I always record initially to HDD.

2. I always use DVD-R for permanent (single-layer) recordings.

Just my two cents.

So, I'm not a high tech person. Neither is my husband. So, he got the thing connected, but no DVD's, or Videos play on the TV screen. We can't put the TV on Channel 3 and scroll up through channels through the DMR machine either.

We don't have dish, only cable---so we don't need the set up for that.

But, when he put it on the first time, we saw this set-up screen on the front window. But, he had to go to bed. Now we can't see that set up screen anymore---and nothing works at all. Half the time the remote won't even turn the unit on or off.

Help?

1. I always record initially to HDD.

2. I always use DVD-R for permanent (single-layer) recordings.

Just my two cents.


thanks a lot bobkart - I appreciate the confirmation.
So - I'm just curious - you mentioned using -R for "single layer" - would your recommendation change to + for DL?

Also - I'm a complete newbie to recording speeds and media manufacturers.
I've noticed some specials at compusa on their generic brand + and - single layers, which are "4x" speed.

1. How does speed affect recording / playback? What speed should I be getting? Does it make a difference?

2. Are the Panasonic's picky? Should I get the generic CompUSA brand (100 disc spindle for $27.00) or should I go higher-end? Are there any specific brands / speeds you recommend?

Thanks!

The DVD+R DL discs are typically half the price of the DVD-R DL discs. So if I can, I use the +Rs. My Pioneer 633 only records to -R DL's though. So I use them when I must.

Recording speed does not affect playback in any way. Some have claimed the 16x is less reliable, I have no solid information one way or another on that point but I do know that, at least for the particular experiment I ran, I got more reliable burns using 4x burn speed (as opposed to 8x or 16x) on my PC.

Many of us no longer buy blank DVDs in stores but instead get high-quality and low-price discs at online stores such as supermediastores.com and meritline.com. The concensus on brands seems to be Taiyo Yuden, then Verbatim. I'm halfway through 600 Taiyo Yuden's with but one coaster.

1. My first assumption is that I should always use the HDD when recording a program instead of RAM. I had been reading that RAM could do chasing play and other features the HDD could also do, and I was confused about which to use for everyday recording. I am now assuming I should always use the HDD over RAM, unless I want to immediately play the program in another player. However, it seems that RAM will often not play in other players, and that if I record to HDD - I can always burn to -R/+R later for mobility. Is this right? So if this is the case - is there EVER a reason to use RAM over the HDD?
I'm a newbie too, and had the same question. I actually bought a 5-pack of RAM discs, and then wasn't sure I had any practical use for them. Given the features of these new Panasonic units, there are only a few reasons I can think of to use RAM discs instead of other disc types:

1. Record 16x9 aspect picture (if your cable or sat box passes the 16x9 flag)

2. Record broadcasts that use the "copy once" flag (very limited today - perhaps some shows on HBO?)

3. Keep a "master disc" of recordings that you want to be able to make bit-perfect copies of later. RAM discs are the only ones that can be copied to the HDD in high-speed mode (with no analog/digital encoding), which can then be copied from the HDD to another disc (e.g., -R, +R) in high-speed mode. I may do this for my home videos copied from a camcorder, because I may want to burn a copy for my parents or kids sometime down the line. Of course, you can probably copy any of the other disc types easily on a computer with the right software, and that's probably a better method.

I'd love to know what other people use RAM discs for.

2. My second assumption is that when I burn to writable media for mobility or archiving - I should use -R on the EH55, instead of +R. When comparing the two, it appears as if everything is equal, except that the -R has more forward/back search speeds (5 on the -R vs 3 on the +R) and that the -R can also hold more titles and chapters (not that I ever see myself getting to 99 titles or 1000 chapters). I did notice that the +R can protect from accidental erasure - but when finalizing a disc - I doubt that 's a concern after it's finalized.
I also think I heard that Panasonic is "better" with -R because they've been supporting it longer, and also that older DVD players more often support -R.
Is this all true? Is there any reason I should be using +R over -R on the EH55?
Yes, -R is better than +R on this unit.

2. Are the Panasonic's picky? Should I get the generic CompUSA brand (100 disc spindle for $27.00) or should I go higher-end? Are there any specific brands / speeds you recommend?
As bobkart said, Taiyo Yuden and Verbatim are both good brands, as are Sony and TDK. You can read all about DVD blank media quality at this site: http://www.digitalfaq.com/media/dvdmedia.htm. I plan to buy only 1st class media.

I just bought a 100-pack of Taiyo Yuden Premium White Inkjet Hub Printable 8X DVD-R Media from supermediastore for $40 including free shipping. The silver laquer version is a bit cheaper at $37.

For Double Layer media, I would have slightly preferred -R DL, but the only 1st class DL media is from Verbatim, and I could only find their +R DL discs ($35.80 for 20 discs after rebate at supermediastore).

I'm also curious about +RW media, so I bought a 15-pack of Sony +RW discs at Walmart today for $13.50. Since these don't need to be finalized, and supposedly play on most DVD players, I thought they would be handy for recording some of the kid's TV shows to DVD to watch in the car. I can then reuse the disc after they've watched all of those episodes and record some different ones. Of course, since the -R media are so cheap, it would probably be just as easy to use a new disc each time. Mostly, I just want to see if this would work.

What do other people use re-writeable media for?

I use RW media for transferring a video from DVD Recorder to PC (when I don't want an archival copy), or the other good use of RW media is to make a 16:9 recording to it, then copy the whole finalized disc to PC, set the 16:9 flags, and burn the result to DVD-R from the PC.

Verbatim is the only brand of DL disc I have found that works. I tried Ritek and have yet to get one to work on numerous DL burners.

So, I'm not a high tech person. Neither is my husband. So, he got the thing connected, but no DVD's, or Videos play on the TV screen. We can't put the TV on Channel 3 and scroll up through channels through the DMR machine either.

We don't have dish, only cable---so we don't need the set up for that.

But, when he put it on the first time, we saw this set-up screen on the front window. But, he had to go to bed. Now we can't see that set up screen anymore---and nothing works at all. Half the time the remote won't even turn the unit on or off.

Help?
dear Twirley:
You have a button on your remote. That button selects your inputs. on the TV.... input ? should be your cable box. Your first step is to get your input in sinc with whatever you have for an input source.
Once you have the correct input, you can then go through setup.

^^ Yes Twirley, you must change the channel to the tv's line input to watch the feed from the EH75.

The manual states that the TVguide info can be input from UP to 2 different serivces or input sources. Has anyone set up this unit with multiple TV guide info from more than one source? Also, I assume that to receive the data from a STB, that the box has to be kept "ON" all the time?

Hi,

New owner of this unit, and have a (hopefully) easy question.

I want to be able to burn a number of tv shows to a DL DVD.
What I want to do is burn them to the HDD, edit out the commercials,
them burn them to the DL DVD at high speed. What speed should I
record the shows onto the hard drive at to be able to maintain high
speed dubbing to DVD?

From what I have read here, I want to record the episode to the HD
in FR mode. But what time length of FR? The time including the
commercials, or the time without them?

If it helps, my goal is to fit 10-12 thirty minute episodes of a show
onto a DL DVD, after I edit out the commercials. But I want to be
able to do the high speed dubbing.

Thanks in advance for any help!
Don

Say you want to record a 4-hour show so you can record it to a disc in high speed after removal of commercials, which you determine makes the length 3 hours. Then you need to us a bitrate for 3 hours fitting on a disc, but make the recoding 4 hours in length. The Panasonic FR mode won't work for this, when you tell it to use FR 3-hour mode, it will stop after 3 hours of recording. Your problem is also complicated by the use of a DL disc, since all the recording speeds are calibrated for single-layer discs.

Ah but you are recording several shows instead of just one show as in my example above, and that can be made to work if you don't mind having to turn off the recording prior to the FR time being hit.

10-12 thirty-minute shows would give you a duration of, at 22 minutes per show, 220-264 minutes. 220 divided by 1.8 (the DL/SL factor) gives 122~147 minutes. So an FR setting of 2:00-2:30 (120-150 minutes) would get you in the ballpark. You can record each of the 30-minute at an FR setting of between 2-2.5 hours. But to prevent it recording for the full 2+ hours, you will have to stop the recording after the 30 minutes is up. This may or may not be convenient, especially for a Timer Recording. Alternatively, you could just edit that extra nearly 2 hours off the end of each Title. Again that might not work if there are other things you want to record during that recording time. It might be most convenient to just use SP mode, the equivalent of an FR setting of 2 hours. You'd get 10 episodes at ~22 minutes per episode on a DL disc (I'm pretty sure, don't hold me to that!).

^^Since the newer Pannys feature an LP mode that is supposedly equal in picture quality to the 2 hour SP mode, then wouldn't it be easier to just record the shows in LP mode, edit out the ads, and transfer the show to a DL disc one week at a time?

"Supposedly equal". I don't see how it can actually be equal with just half the bitrate (less for the video since the audio takes the same amount in either SP or LP). If their LP Picture Quality is truly equal to that of their SP, then they are doing something wrong with SP. They should be able to do better with over twice the bitrate.

EDIT: Also, personally I won't build a disc up like that, writing several Titles over a period of time. I will wait until I have enough to fill the disc, then write them all and Finalize afterwords. Then check the disc before erasing the source material. Writing several Titles over a period of time risks a problem with the disc after you've written some Titles and erased the source material. Of course to avoid that you'd just not erase the source material until you Finalize the disc (and check it). If you're not going to erase the sourec material until then, you may as well wait to dub it over all at once. For example the disc could have a bad spot halfway through it, that you would not know about until you got there. Also, the extra handling of the disc risks fingerprints/dust, which can be cleaned off for reading the disc but if they are in the way when writing, that's trouble. I leave the blank discs in their package until I'm ready to write the whole thing and check it right away.

^^Since the newer Pannys feature an LP mode that is supposedly equal in picture quality to the 2 hour SP mode, then wouldn't it be easier to just record the shows in LP mode, edit out the ads, and transfer the show to a DL disc one week at a time?


I for one saw very noticeable difference in quality. I did a high speed dub of a SP program on the HDD to a +RW . I did both a SP to SP copy and a SP to LP copy. Imo, the LP copy was watchable but really no better than VHS.

EDIT: Also, personally I won't build a disc up like that, writing several Titles over a period of time. I will wait until I have enough to fill the disc, then write them all and Finalize afterwords. Then check the disc before erasing the source material. Writing several Titles over a period of time risks a problem with the disc after you've written some Titles and erased the source material. Of course to avoid that you'd just not erase the source material until you Finalize the disc (and check it). If you're not going to erase the sourec material until then, you may as well wait to dub it over all at once. For example the disc could have a bad spot halfway through it, that you would not know about until you got there. Also, the extra handling of the disc risks fingerprints/dust, which can be cleaned off for reading the disc but if they are in the way when writing, that's trouble. I leave the blank discs in their package until I'm ready to write the whole thing and check it right away.
I would normally dub each to a RAM disc so I could clear the drive, then tranfer back to the hdd when I'm ready to dub to a -R. I forgot to mention it, cause I haven't had to do it since the tv season ended back in May.

Here's my thoughts on a few issues discussed... (I have an EH75 )

1. I always record initially to HDD.

2. I always use DVD-R for permanent (single-layer) recordings. (Because my understanding is that DVD-R has been around longer and will play on more "older" DVD players)

ON (Panasonic) LP Recording

My experience is that it is almost impossible to tell the difference between SP and LP - honestly. (I view on a super clear Toshiba 52" set). But - there is of course a subtle difference.

The sharpness (500 lines) is the same in SP & LP - but they do something different in LP that can be noticed if you're really looking closely for it. I'm not an expert of these terms, but in LP mode, they seem to "freeze" certain portions of the overall picture more often than in SP mode, note this "freeze' effect lasts only maybe 1/16 of a second - and maybe repeats a couple times a second - and changes to difference parts of the screen often.

The overall effect (affect?) is a super clear picture that appears to I would say any normal viewer as a "great" picture - these slight "freezes" I describe are mostly not noticeable unless you're really looking for them. Also, one may notice that sometimes in LP it is "busier" around outlines. The LP picture is not VHS (250 lines) - it's twice as good.

DVD LP recording. I've changed my default recording (HDD) setting to LP (it's that good). If I high-speed copy a HDD LP title to a DVD, as far as I can tell it is a perfect copy. When I then play the DVD, the LP picture is again the same as it was on the HDD - really good! (Possibility it is not as good to make the original HDD recording in SP, and then write it to a DVD in LP - because I would guess it encodes it again opposed to High Speed Copy)?

A QUESTION in my mind is, will my LP DVD look as good on a different brand DVD Player? I have not had a chance to test this.


DVD-RAM Initially I also wondered what I could use them for. (I never even played with it the first 2 months). I have ended up using DVD-RAM for archival of my important old home videos converted from VHS.

I may be wrong on this, but it seems to me one thing that the Panasonic doesn't do as well as the Pioneer is copying DVD back to the HDD. On my previous Pioneer 531, I could High-Speed HDD titles to DVD-R or DVD-RW, and then (prior to finialization of the DVD) - could High-Speed copy the DVD tiles right back perfectly to the HDD. This means I could use non-finialized DVD's for archival.

I hope I'm wrong but - on the Panasonic, I can appearently only do this with DVD-RAM disks.

Am I doing something wrong - can anyone help? In other words it appears that you cannot High-Speed Copy regular DVD's (either finialized (or) non-finialized) back to the HDD.

(Note yes you can "copy" (kind of "re-record") DVD's back to the HDD - but it appears it re-encodes them because it only copies in "real Time", and it also "records" your actions as you select titles on your title page - very strange?) Here is one area where the users manual is confusing!

SO - bottom line it appears you need DVD-RAM disks to archive titles and preserve their quality. (For a test, I started with a HDD SP test title and high-speed copied it to a DVD-RAM - then back to HDD - then copied the copied title back to DVD-RAM, etc., etc. 12 times with no loss in quality!

Any help on High Speed copying of DVDs back to the HDD will be appreciated!

A QUESTION in my mind is, will my LP DVD look as good on a different brand DVD Player? I have not had a chance to test this.
Check your LP record mode on a fast-moving program, such as Football or a "Star Wars" type movie. You "might" see a more noticeable difference, with "slightly rougher" edges on the fast-moving objects (or fast camera pans).

My Pio 640 has the same resolution for SP and LP but uses a lower bit rate for the LP, so still or "normal" scenes look "the same" between SP and LP, but the edges get slightly rougher if the camera pans fast or objects move fast. My approx. bit rate for LP/SP/XP is 3/6/9, but at the full DVD resolution of 720 x 480.

wabjxo - exactly what I was trying to say when I said, "Also, one may notice that sometimes in LP it is "busier" around outlines."

Actually I always use SP for sports - thanks!

Am I doing something wrong - can anyone help? In other words it appears that you cannot High-Speed Copy regular DVD's (either finialized (or) non-finialized) back to the HDD.

(Note yes you can "copy" (kind of "re-record") DVD's back to the HDD - but it appears it re-encodes them because it only copies in "real Time", and it also "records" your actions as you select titles on your title page - very strange?) Here is one area where the users manual is confusing!

Any help on High Speed copying of DVDs back to the HDD will be appreciated!
This is correct. None of the Panasonics hdd models allow high speed dubbing back to the hdd from anything other than RAM discs. A finalized dvd can as you've noted by dubbed in real time, but alas, Panny didn't want us to be able to do it in high speed. :mad:

SP vs LP.... Well, my test was probably faulty from the standpoint of it being a football program and copying from HDD SP to DVD LP length.

Recording a TV program to the HDD in LP quality was very watchable as opposed to what I had done before. I will try a LP to LP copy of a football game to see if its better than going from SP to LP.

wabjxo - exactly what I was trying to say when I said, "Also, one may notice that sometimes in LP it is "busier" around outlines."

Actually I always use SP for sports - thanks!
Sorry my post was not clear...I was hoping you would be able to check your LP/SP/XP write quality in approx. or avg Mbits/sec and let me know what they are?

My current JVC DVD recorder just crapped out on me, and I'm thinking about the Panny EH75, but I'm wondering if it's too much for my needs? I've currently got the HR10-250 DirecTV HD Tivo DVR (with OTA antenna for local HD), and use that as my primary guide and recording/viewing source. When I want to save something from Tivo permanently, I'd like to record to DVD. I also want to move some tapes to DVD and do not have a VCR.

I have the STB set up on my TV to component 1, (HD DVD is taking up my HDMI) and I'd set up my DVD recorder to Component 2. Using this setup, do I really need the TVGOS? I do want to edit some of the programs for commercials, so that's why I'm thinking of the HDD unit (I looked at the ES35, but read where you can't easily edit commercials out). I can't really use HDMI because of my other DVD player, but component to the TV would be good. I think I would use S-video from my Tivo to the Panny (does it have component in)? Satellite and OTA rf goes into my Tivo.

I'm assuming I can just switch to Comp 2, use the save to VCR command on the Tivo, and record to HDD. Then I can somehow edit out the commercials, and then copy over to DVD.

Given this, does the Panny seem like a good solution for me, or is there a cheaper solution given my somewhat meager needs? Appreciate the advice.

wabjxo - sorry but I have no idea what my LP/SP/XP write quality in approx. or avg Mbits/sec - is? (As I said I'm not an expert on this stuff, only a happy customer)

I looked in the specs but don't see any info like that - and I don't know how you find that stuff out?

wabjxo - sorry but I have no idea what my LP/SP/XP write quality in approx. or avg Mbits/sec - is? (As I said I'm not an expert on this stuff, only a happy customer)

I looked in the specs but don't see any info like that - and I don't know how you find that stuff out?
To check write quality, record something at each speed...1 minute or less can be enough, and bring up your "Display" while playing the recordings back. The write speed in Mbps should be shown somewhere. You need to record just long enough to get the "sense" of the average rec. quality, since it changes constantly depending on what it's trying to record (how easy or diff. it is to portray the changing scenes). Each speed will usually be within a certain "range" of Mbps...I estimated the approx. center of that range for each speed.

With the Pio 640, I have to press the Display button twice to bring up the details of recordings on the HDD and three times for recordings on DVDs.

^^ The Panny dvd recorders don't feature the bitrate counter...Grrr.

^^ The Panny dvd recorders don't feature the bitrate counter...Grrr.
What a bummer!

I guess the only way to get this info on the Panny is for someone to check multi-speed DVD recordings on a computer?

Correction: I need to correct my post above re: the Pio 640 Display: it shows Mbps on recorded shows, not while recording to the HDD.

Also, the # of times pressing "Display" is diff. to show the Mbps for recorded shows on the HDD vs. DVDs...it's twice for the HDD and three times for DVDs.

Overall bitrate (audio+video) can be fairly closely determined by taking the sizes of the files involved and dividing by their duration. There is a slight amount of overhead for multiplexing the audio/video together in a VOB file, but it is negligible.

Example: one hour of audio/video occupying 4GiB (~4.3GB):

4,300,000KB / 3600 seconds ~= 1194KB/s

then multiply by 8 to convert bytes/second to bits/second:

1194KB/s * 8b/B ~= 9556Kb/s.

Then to arrive at the Kb/s for just the video portion, simply subtract the audio Kb/s, say it's 384Kb/s:

9556Kb/s - 384Kb/s = 9172Kb/s.

This is darn close to the maximum bitrate allowed by the DVD Standard (9200Kb/s).

Posted this on it's own before I saw this thread. Apologies for the double post. I'm having a problem with my Panasonc EH75VS. When I play back VHS tapes back through the HDMI cable, I get a blue band down the left hand side of the 4x3 picture. Color bands also down the left 1 " or so of the scree. Also get tracking lines along the bottom of the screen (like there's no overscan). Interestingly, the picture over component cable is just fine (no problems along the left hand side of the picture). I thought it was a defective DVR so I exchanged it bit the second one was just the same. It wouldn't bother me too much but the system automatically swithches to HDMI whenever the play button is pressed and I'm forever switching input on VHS.

Keith

The manual states that the TVguide info can be input from UP to 2 different serivces or input sources. Has anyone set up this unit with multiple TV guide info from more than one source? Also, I assume that to receive the data from a STB, that the box has to be kept "ON" all the time?

Sorry GVC - I would have responded earlier to your post - but I actually just got the EH55 yesterday and set it up last night.
I have an analog cable feed with a STB (I also have digital cable running on this line - but I retained my analog package b/c I don't need all of the extra channels)

The set-up process for the EH55 (which is the same as the EH75 afaik) was easy. I told the unit my country and zip code and then confirmed that I had "cable with a cable box". When the unit asked how many sources I'd like for TVGOS - i read at the top of the screen that you could pick up to 2. I then looked at the paper manual and saw a very small line of fine print that said "if you are choosing 'cable with a cable box' - you should also choose 'antenna'" - so that's exactly what I did.

I powered down the unit and was prepared to wait 24 hours for TVGOS. However, within 1 hour I saw the unit change my cable box (via the IR blaster / G-link) to several channels (2, 3, 5) and then finally settle on "13" (PBS). I went to sleep and about 6 hours later when I woke up - I decided to turn the unit on. It asked me to confirm my cable provider from a list of about 5, and there it was.... PERFECT TVGOS info from TWO sources!!!

The way it works is that I have multiple listings for most channels in the lower end of the spectrum. One listing reflects the cable box (descrambled) line-up, and the other listing reflects the direct RF cable feed (w/o STB).
So for instance, I have channel 10 listed twice in my TVGOS. One of the channel 10's has the CNN logo next to it (the line-up reflected on my STB) , and the other channel 10 has a different logo (I forget which) - which reflects a different channel coming in from my direct RF Feed w/o the STB.

Now - here's what I'm not sure of: Did the unit get BOTH channel line-ups from my RF feed? Or did it get the RF line-up from the RF-in, and the STB line-up from the component video connection from my STB (on IN-3 of the Panasonic)??? Not sure about that one.

The other thing I'm wondering is if I pick an automatic TVGOS recording for the first instance of channel 10 from my STB (CNN) - and then later pick a TVGOS recording from the 2nd instance channel 10 (from my RF line-up) - will the EH55 be smart enough to know that it needs to record from IN-3 for CNN, and then stitch to record from the RF feed for the second "channel 10" recording which refers to the RF line-up? I'm imagining it will do this on it's own since I didn't see any "input selection" options on the TVGOS recording interface. Also - if I go to the channel editor interface of TVGOS - it clearly states "CABLE BOX" next to the "CNN" channel 10, and "RF ANTENNA" next to the other Channel 10 - so it seems to "know" where each is coming from. However, I'll let you know after I try to record from both sources using TVGOS.

I think this feature is really cool - because I only have 1 STB and it's great to know what's on my RF feed if my STB is busy during recording (or vice versa - now I know if a show is available to be recorded off the direct RF, so I can keep my STB available for watching other programs simultaneously). I had NO idea what my RF line-up was (because I only watch from the STB - so the TVGOS is really helpful in this regard.

So- the first answer to your question is - "yes" - you can definitely set the TVGOS for 2 sources... and my initial experience was that it worked perfectly on the first attempt - and in much less than 24 hours.

I do not know if you need to leave the cable box "on" or not. I left mine on overnight - but I do know that the IR blaster can control the box - so I'd like to believe it can turn it on if needed (not sure though).

On a final note - I spoke briefly with Panasonic Customer support yesterday - I accidentally hit the wrong button during set-up and wanted to reset the unit.
I was prepared for a hellish call - but I got right through with no waiting to a US based (on-shore) rep who was very friendly and knowledgeable. She told me that holding town channel up and channel down simultaneously would reset the unit - and stayed on the phone with me for the entire set-up process. I was very impressed.
Maybe you can call them to ask the other question regarding "cable box on".


Hope this helps!

For wabjxo

I followed the link to the CNet review of the EH75, but couldn't find yours about the EH55. Help! Thanks!

PatH

Here's the link to the CNET review of the EH55. (http://reviews.cnet.com/Panasonic_DIGA_DMR_EH55_S_DVD_recorder_HDD_recorder_with_TV_ tuner/4505-6463_7-31825672.html)

Guys,

Read the entire thread, looks like a very good unit with lots of happy users. I have not checked out the manual online so don't kill me for the question I'm about to ask.

Does the EH75 allow you to record VHS to the HDD and then copy to a DVD? I've got lots of VHS tapes I collected prior to DVD and would like to transfer those over to DVD for simplicity sake. Has anyone done this and what is the result?

Thanks in advance.

Regards,

RTROSE

Does the EH75 allow you to record VHS to the HDD and then copy to a DVD? I've got lots of VHS tapes I collected prior to DVD and would like to transfer those over to DVD for simplicity sake. Has anyone done this and what is the result?

Thanks in advance.

Regards,

RTROSE
Yes you can dub a vhs tape to the hdd, then burn to a disc. Commercial tapes with copy protection will not be copy-able however. Stuff recorded from tv, and some Columbia House tapes can be, but big studio movies, nope.

Yes you can dub a vhs tape to the hdd, then burn to a disc. Commercial tapes with copy protection will not be copy-able however. Stuff recorded from tv, and some Columbia House tapes can be, but big studio movies, nope.

Thanks for the info. Thought that this was the case, but wanted to be sure it would before I laid down the cash.

Regards,

RTROSE

I was surprised at how many commercial tapes were not copy protected. It was mainly the tapes from FOX and MCA that had the protection. I copied the ones I could and kept the rest.

I still have a big project ahead of me to copy the 40+ volume Twilight Zone collection I purchased from Columbia House years ago at $20 & $25 a tape. But I think that will wait until I have replaced my VCR/DVDR with a VCR/HDD/DVDR. If only I had known then that there would someday be DVDs I would have just waited. Now, I really don't want to re-purchase the set on DVD, even if it is better quality.

jpurkey, I feel just about the same way after having bought the complete Twilight Zone collection too & when DVDs first came out & I saw that they were really not ment for our "New" HDTV system I decided at that point to not buy ANY DVDs or trasnsfer anything in my video tape collection to DVDs until there were HD-DVDs.

My thought has always been & still is why waste my time now & transfer it to an old system only to have to transfer them again to a new HD-DVD system.

So far my Video Tape Collection is holding up just fine so I'm not worried about that. Maybe if I was then I might transfer them to "Regular" DVDs ;)

Heck I even refused to buy a DVD Recorder but my daughter bought me one as a gift :) mostly so I would record things for her that she din't have time to do :rolleyes:

Read through the thread and I see that some people are having the same problem that I have with the EH75V.

I just bought the Sony A2000 from ABT and had it delivered last week. Finally opened up my EH75V, which I got for free using my reward points on a credit card, and had the guys at ABT put everything together.

Equipment line-up:

Sony A2000
Panasonic DMR-EH75V
Bose 3*2*1 GS Series II
Comcast, Motorola DCT 3412 digital cable HD receiver DVR

When they tested everything, all inputs seemed to work. Running HDMI from EH75V to Sony A2000 for DVD playback, and also running HDMI from my Comcast 3412 STB straight to Sony A2000.

Was able to watch Cable, DVD, and VHS.

I was with them when they started the TV guide Set-Up. Seemed pretty easy. Turned off the EH75V and the STB started jumping around channels, 2,3,4,5,ect.......I just let it do what it was supposed to do and I let it be. Woke up the next morning and the the STB was stuck at 890, which is just a pay-per-view channel, and the STB was frozen. I unplugged the STB and when the thing re-booted, the channels starting jumping around again. Have been doing this for the past 4 nights. When I want to watch TV, I have to turn on the EH75V so the IR Blaster doesn't change channels.

After reading kgrayAVS's post, I never got a message to confirm cable supporter. I first thought that the recorder was flipping through every channel to load up data, but now I don't know why it is jumping to every channel. Can someone please tell me what it is doing? This is quite annoying because my STB keeps freezing up because of the TV Guide Set-up.

To be honest, since I already have a HD DVR, I really don' t need this player to record TV for me, I just wanted it to so I can use it for VHS transfers as well as pull stuff off my DVR and put that on DVD. Is it possible to use the EH75V just for DVD playback? Do you have to use the TV Guide stuff? Is there an option to turn it off? If not, then can someone please tell me why it keeps freezing?

Also, the CNET review said that the 1080i through HDMI passed tests, but failed in 720p and 480p. Since I have the Sony A2000, should I be using that to scale the DVD’s? Is there a way to set the player to pass through the DVD dignal to the TV so the TV can scale to 1080p? I am assuming the scaler in the TV would be better than the EH75V?

Any help would be great for me. I am getting frustrated with this player and wished I would have gotten an Oppo or something else and forget about the DVD recording aspect.

Ok, so I really like my EH-75. But like every body else, I hate the manual. The one problem I've got so far is high speed dubbing multiple shows (say 2 hours worth) from the HDD to a DVD-R. If I use the copy feature and press Pause on each show I want to copy to DVD, it pops up a warning that when the length is more than 1 hour, the copying will be in FR and the copying speed will be at standard speed and not high speed. I've recorded each show to the HDD with a FR setting, but that didn't help. What am I doing wrong?

Ok, so I really like my EH-75. But like every body else, I hate the manual. The one problem I've got so far is high speed dubbing multiple shows (say 2 hours worth) from the HDD to a DVD-R.
If I use the copy feature and press Pause on each show I want to copy to DVD, it pops up a warning that when the length is more than 1 hour, the copying will be in FR and the copying speed will be at standard speed and not high speed.

I've recorded each show to the HDD with a FR setting, but that didn't help. What am I doing wrong?
Did you set the unit to enable High Speed Dubbing before recording your shows? For some odd reason Panasonic decided not to default set their hdd models to that setting, you must do it manaully.

Press SetUp on remote

Scroll down to Dis tab...

Now arrow over to the list of options that appear, and go down to DVD-R High Speed Recording..

Press Enter to set. The screen appears with On and OFF buttons. Select ON, and press Enter.

Exit SetUp menu.

Any recording made befire the setting is turned on, can only be dubbed to a DVD-R disc in real time, regardless of the speeed it was recorded in.

I was with them when they started the TV guide Set-Up. Seemed pretty easy. Turned off the EH75V and the STB started jumping around channels, 2,3,4,5,ect.......I just let it do what it was supposed to do and I let it be. Woke up the next morning and the the STB was stuck at 890, which is just a pay-per-view channel, and the STB was frozen. I unplugged the STB and when the thing re-booted, the channels starting jumping around again. Have been doing this for the past 4 nights. When I want to watch TV, I have to turn on the EH75V so the IR Blaster doesn't change channels.



To be honest, since I already have a HD DVR, I really don' t need this player to record TV for me, I just wanted it to so I can use it for VHS transfers as well as pull stuff off my DVR and put that on DVD. Is it possible to use the EH75V just for DVD playback? Do you have to use the TV Guide stuff? Is there an option to turn it off? If not, then can someone please tell me why it keeps freezing?


You could unplug the IR blaster, if you don't need the guide. That will stop it from changing the channels.

Posted this on it's own before I saw this thread. Apologies for the double post. I'm having a problem with my Panasonc EH75VS. When I play back VHS tapes back through the HDMI cable, I get a blue band down the left hand side of the 4x3 picture. Color bands also down the left 1 " or so of the scree. Also get tracking lines along the bottom of the screen (like there's no overscan). Interestingly, the picture over component cable is just fine (no problems along the left hand side of the picture). I thought it was a defective DVR so I exchanged it bit the second one was just the same. It wouldn't bother me too much but the system automatically swithches to HDMI whenever the play button is pressed and I'm forever switching input on VHS.

Keith

Well, I've figured out what the problem is. The output from the DVD recorder on HDMI is underscanned by about 1/4 to 1/2 inch all around the image. When I turn the brightness up all the way it's very clear what's happening. I have a Samsung RC199H DVD/VHS recorder and it does not underscan on VHS over HDMI - the VHS picture is the same on component and HDMI. Anybody know if there's an overscan adjustment IN THE DVD RECORDER (and preferably for HDMI only).

Keith

I figured out my problems with high speed copy. I had already enabled High Speed Dubbing earlier (but BIG thanks for the reminder - you never know when you've missed something). It turns out that my problem was that I was using the simple copy feature that comes up in the first menu and not the Advanced Copy feature in the second menu. Finding and getting to all the features on this Panasonic is almost as convoluted as trying to work your way through the manual. :-P
Now, next question: I thought the recorder was supposed to automatically put in chapter stops every five minutes when you burn a dvd. But mine doesn't. So what step have I not performed or enabled?

The automatic 5 minute chapter marks only show up AFTER finalizing the disc.

The automatic 5 minute chapter marks only show up AFTER finalizing the disc.
With the EH75, do you get "auto-chapter" marks with a high-speed dub?

I finally read all the posts on the Panasonic 55 model (popular, ain't it?) and apparently auto chapter marks don't get inserted during high speed dubbing. I need to go back and check, but I don't think they've gotten inserted in my normal speed dubs either.

I remember seeing them on a disc after finalization, but I dont remember if I used high speed dubbing or real time for that particular disc.

I remember seeing them on a disc after finalization, but I dont remember if I used high speed dubbing or real time for that particular disc.
The Panasonic units insert automatic chapter marks only with normal speed copying, not high speed. In high-speed dubbing, only custom-placed chapter marks are copied (as it is a bit-for-bit copy).

The automatic chapter marks inserted during normal speed copying are 5 minutes apart on -R and -RW discs, and 8 minutes apart on +R discs. According to the manual, there are no automatic chapter marks when recording to dual layer media, RAM, or +RW discs.

I have a Panasonic DMR-EH75V, but I have not tested the automatic chapter marking feature because I have had no reason to make a normal-speed copy (and I don't know if I ever will!)

I have a question regarding the updating of the TVGuide feature with a D* sat box. Does the D* receiver have to on all night for the TVGUIDE info to be updated in the eh75v?

I have a problem with "copy failed". No code# or other explanation. I tried both +R and +RW that I have sucessfully used before with the same result.
Both discs allow copying from other HDD titles I have. The original program was from ESPN Classic 2 hour program which I edited down to 1:32 after deleting commercials. The program will copy from the HDD to Ram disc ok. The other discs tried all give me "copy failed" message shortly after the high speed copy attempts to begin. Again, these discs were compatible with other titles I had attempted to copy from the hdd to test them to make sure they were ok. I cant figure out whats wrong.

bumping

I have a problem with "copy failed". No code# or other explanation. I tried both +R and +RW that I have sucessfully used before with the same result.
Both discs allow copying from other HDD titles I have. The original program was from ESPN Classic 2 hour program which I edited down to 1:32 after deleting commercials. The program will copy from the HDD to Ram disc ok. The other discs tried all give me "copy failed" message shortly after the high speed copy attempts to begin. Again, these discs were compatible with other titles I had attempted to copy from the hdd to test them to make sure they were ok. I cant figure out whats wrong.

Interesting. I don't know what the problem could be. I don't know if it may think that there is a copy-protection signal? I have recorded many ESPN-Classic programs with Panasonic (ES20) without any problems.

Is it possible to HS-dub the copied program from the DVD-RAM back to the HDD and then HS-copy it to a DVD+R/DVD+RW? How about DVD-RW or DVD-R?

I am a total idiot when it comes to all this and have been putting off getting a DVD recorder as long as possible. I can slick the HD on the computer, reload from scratch but this stuff??????
We have a Sony DVD/VCR combo player that I bought about a year ago and suddenly the VHS will not record, only play the VHS tapes. (Try to find a VCR only recorder/player---almost impossible---nothing but combos out there). So decided it was time to buy a DVD/VCR combo recorder. Did days of research on the net and then let the salesman at Circuit City talk me into a Zenith 3 days ago ($400 unit on sale so not the lowest possible priced one they had)---Will not even transfer some of my home vacation videos to DVD--states copyright protected?!? Locked up when I tried to play a DVD my sister sent although the Sony plays it fine. Needles to say it is going back to Circuit City.
VHS tapes are getting old and need to be saved so after more and more days or research, am looking at this Panny model.

Now questions to those in the know, please:
1. Is this model going to be a monster to understand and use?
2. We have Dish Network, not cable. and must set the TV to channel 3 to receive all 600 or so channels on Dish. Local channels come through antenna attached to dish (both on one cable though the wall.) Will this DVD/VCR recorder work for taping from both?
3. Until the TV dies in the family room, still using a 36", 6 year old RCA. Has usual RCA hookups--red, white, yellow things, S-video and RF---that's it. Will this unit work with this?
4. Dish requires( as to my understanding) to put cable to their box and then to DVD/VCR equipment and then out to TV. Problem?
5. With all this copyright protection stuff, can I still save movies from the countless movie channels we pay to receive and tape them on VHS or DVD with this machine? Download to HD and then transfer to DVD or even VHS? Just record on DVD---possible?
6. I have years and years of HBO, Showtime, etc. movies I taped off of Dish---all on VHS, of course. Will it let me copy any of those to DVD format or will copyright bug kick in?
7. We have more Disney videos than I can count for the grandkids---DVD backup possible to save them in a more secure media (perhaps the copy-once thing?) or not? (Yes, I read about the Sima things and even purchased one to try and save some of Disney videos. Know it was hooked up correctly between one VHS player playing the video to the Zenith I am returning---didn't work and did not get a "copy once" options to save these videos----just kicked in with copyright protection after about 10 minutes of transferring to DVD.) Since I purchased these Disney videos, my property, find this extremely irritating.

I apologize for coming in here new and babbling out all the questions but I sure do need help.
Thank you in advance to all those that can help with this information.
RG

Now questions to those in the know, please:
1. Is this model going to be a monster to understand and use?
2. We have Dish Network, not cable. and must set the TV to channel 3 to receive all 600 or so channels on Dish. Local channels come through antenna attached to dish (both on one cable though the wall.) Will this DVD/VCR recorder work for taping from both?
It won't be difficult to learn to use, and you'll hook it up nearly the same as before, with the Dish box connected to the recorder's inputs, and recording Dish programs thru the recorder's line inputs.

3. Until the TV dies in the family room, still using a 36", 6 year old RCA. Has usual RCA hookups--red, white, yellow things, S-video and RF---that's it. Will this unit work with this?
Yes, plus most combo units also send the dvd and vhs signals thru the RF line too-though I'm not sure the 75 will, since it has a hard drive in the mix.

4. Dish requires( as to my understanding) to put cable to their box and then to DVD/VCR equipment and then out to TV. Problem?
Dish>DVD Recorder>TV..No problemo.

5. With all this copyright protection stuff, can I still save movies from the countless movie channels we pay to receive and tape them on VHS or DVD with this machine? Download to HD and then transfer to DVD or even VHS? Just record on DVD---possible?
6. I have years and years of HBO, Showtime, etc. movies I taped off of Dish---all on VHS, of course. Will it let me copy any of those to DVD format or will copyright bug kick in?
7. We have more Disney videos than I can count for the grandkids---DVD backup possible to save them in a more secure media (perhaps the copy-once thing?) or not? (Yes, I read about the Sima things and even purchased one to try and save some of Disney videos. Know it was hooked up correctly between one VHS player playing the video to the Zenith I am returning---didn't work and did not get a "copy once" options to save these videos----just kicked in with copyright protection after about 10 minutes of transferring to DVD.) Since I purchased these Disney videos, my property, find this extremely irritating.

RG
Some pay tv movies may contain the copy protection signal, others may not. You won't know until you try and dub them to the hdd or a disc.
Commercial vhs tapes-and the Disney ones I'm sure, will have the copy protection/Macrovision. You won't be able to copy those using only a combo unit. I've never used a Sima, so I don't know why you had problems with it using a Zenith.

Westly,
I can't thank you enough :)
I am getting ready to return this Zenith piece of (#%(#*$ and CC also has the Panny unit so wanted to exchange at the same time.
I have been so confused because I keep reading that this unit does not receive digital broadcast and ALL Dish channels are digital....or so I'm told.
Also that TV guide thing has me all flustered. Don't think it will work with DISH and don't really care either but that means must be here to tell it to download to HD, correct? Does that mean can't scheduled it to copy anything to DVD, VHS or download to HD unless we are home to do it manually? (That question make any sense? Hope so.)
Thank you again,
Renee

Also that TV guide thing has me all flustered. Don't think it will work with DISH and don't really care either but that means must be here to tell it to download to HD, correct? Does that mean can't scheduled it to copy anything to DVD, VHS or download to HD unless we are home to do it manually? (That question make any sense? Hope so.)
You can set a timer recording manually, without using the TV Guide. You'd program it, just like you would do a vcr, setting the unit to record the Dish channel from the recorder's line imput. Of course, you would have to turn tne sat box on, and to the channel you want to record from, and make sure that nobody changed it while you're out.
Don't have a satellite dish, but I've read many sat boxes have timers that you can set for it to come on and tune to the proper channel, so when the recorder turns on at the set time, the show you want will be recorded.

You may be able to use the guide to program with the Dish channels. If you can hook up an antenna to the RF input and can get the analog host channel (usually a PBS one) in just good enough. You can usually get the guide info for those channels OTA, and the Panny's newer TVGOS version will probably let you enter in the channel numbers for those channels. Then, the IR blaster will just change the channels.

If that method isn't entirely possible, there still may be a less efficient way - I think they explain it on their website - www.tvguideonscreen.com.

I, too, have the same problem with programs I have recorded from a variety of sources. Doesn't matter what kind of media I use. At first I thought it was a copy protection problem but just today I tried to copy a recorded program to DVD that I know didn't have any copy protection and got the "copy failed" error.

The only thing that seems to be in common is that I have edited the program in some way, either by dividing or shortening. I'm going to do some tests with edited and un-edited programs and send an email to Panasonic support. Not that I think there will be a response that's worthwhile.

Will post any more info as I get it.

Ken

I've been wanting a DVR, upconverting DVD player, and DVD recorder for awhile. Then a few weeks ago our VCR broke. I started looking into options and found out about the EH75V, which looks like it would satisfy all my needs (in one component). I do have 2 questions though:

1. I'm new to the DVR thing, and wondered what I need to be able to utilize the TV Guide functionality. I assume you need digital cable (with cable box) or Dish? Currently I just have analog cable (coax running from wall into TV). With analog cable would all other functionality remain the same?

2. I just bought a new home theater system including a JVC LT-46FN97 TV, which is 1080p. I've been wanting an upconverting DVD player to maximize the picture quality of our DVD's. I noticed on the CNET review that it says this unit does not do a good job of upconverting. Do the rest of you agree? I was hoping to not have to buy a separate upconverting DVD player. Can the receiver or TV compensate for "sub par" upconverting from the DVD player? If I can't get good upconversion, maybe I'd need to buy a more basic DVD recorder and a separate upconverting DVD player. Thoughts?

1. I'm new to the DVR thing, and wondered what I need to be able to utilize the TV Guide functionality. I assume you need digital cable (with cable box) or Dish? Currently I just have analog cable (coax running from wall into TV). With analog cable would all other functionality remain the same?

TVGOS, in my opinion, actually works better with direct analog cable without a cable box (what I have), then with a cable box or satellite.

I can't answer your other question because I don't own an EH-75.

TVGOS, in my opinion, actually works better with direct analog cable without a cable box (what I have), then with a cable box or satellite.
Is this true of all DVD/HDD recorders, or is it dependant on model? If it's dependant on model, what would I look for to make sure the TV Guide functionality works with analog cable?

My own TVGuide experiance with the EH75 on analog cable has been very satisfactory. I don't have a cable box, so I don't know how well the the EH75 would control one. You can look over the other forum postings for more info.
In my limited experiance, I thought the upconversion works pretty well. Definitely better than my 8 year old Toshiba DVD player.
If you want one, don't wait too long because DVD recorders with hard drives are becoming extinct due to the FCC, Hollywood, and CIA.

I've been wanting a DVR, upconverting DVD player, and DVD recorder for awhile. Then a few weeks ago our VCR broke. I started looking into options and found out about the EH75V, which looks like it would satisfy all my needs (in one component). I do have 2 questions though:

1. I'm new to the DVR thing, and wondered what I need to be able to utilize the TV Guide functionality. I assume you need digital cable (with cable box) or Dish? Currently I just have analog cable (coax running from wall into TV). With analog cable would all other functionality remain the same?

2. I just bought a new home theater system including a JVC LT-46FN97 TV, which is 1080p. I've been wanting an upconverting DVD player to maximize the picture quality of our DVD's. I noticed on the CNET review that it says this unit does not do a good job of upconverting. Do the rest of you agree? I was hoping to not have to buy a separate upconverting DVD player. Can the receiver or TV compensate for "sub par" upconverting from the DVD player? If I can't get good upconversion, maybe I'd need to buy a more basic DVD recorder and a separate upconverting DVD player. Thoughts?

I've had my EH75 for several months now and have been very happy with it. I love having it all in one unit (it's also my CD player). I've made tons of DVDs including dozens of transfers from tape from my camcorder. Editing on the unit is a breeze. Chasing playback is also very cool. Coming from a VCR is like night and day. You have titled thumbnails of everything you record and can instantly access any title, skip commercials, etc.

I can confirm that it gets TV Guide data best from analog cable or OTA (antenna). I would imagine all DVRs with TVGOS get data the same way. I had cable when I first got this DVR and the TV Guide was very reliable. Later I got DirecTV, and it wouldn't always download all the guide data, so I plugged in an antenna (just for the guide download) and it works fine now. The guide won't work with Dish (the manual says so). When I had cable I used it both with and without a box. The first 99 channels I got straight from the cable input, and the higher digital channels I got from the box over S-video, using the included IR blaster to tune the box. I did it this way so I could watch and record different sources at the same time. The IR blaster was pretty much 100% reliable with my Motorola cable box, but maybe 90% with my DirecTV box. Just make sure during the initial setup that you tune to your local PBS station and leave the unit off a full 24hrs and you'll have no problems.

I have a 60 inch 1080p TV similar to yours, and DVD's are eye-popping at 1080i over HDMI. I don't know why CNET would rate it subpar. Perhaps they didn't have it set up properly. This unit does a superb upconverting job to my eyes (fine detail, smooth motion, good blacks). It's superior at least to a Samsung upconverting player I have. I can't say how it compares to an Oppo (which many say is the best).

Good luck.

Is this true of all DVD/HDD recorders, or is it dependant on model? If it's dependant on model, what would I look for to make sure the TV Guide functionality works with analog cable?

Should generally be true on all DVD recorders with TVGOS, but there may be exceptions.

Should generally be true on all DVD recorders with TVGOS, but there may be exceptions.Yep. Generally true. As long as it's not a Pioneer.

a couple of quick questions. I'm just now reading the manual as I'm thinking about getting this unit. The first thing is this:

I think the manual says that the RF output or connection does not work on this thing. Is this true? I can't run an s-video line into this unit and then an RF cable out to the TV? Thought anything that had a VCR built into it allowed you to use any of the connections including the RF output to send to a TV because of the VCR part if it. Correct me if I'm wrong but this means that if I put in a VCR into this unit and play it the only way my TV can see it is if I use any other connection except the RF output? Even my unknown combo unit lets me use all the connections including the RF output.

The second I haven't gotten to yet in the long manual but I'll ask if it hasn't been asked yet. Some DVD recorders allow you to record a show and at the same time allow you to edit or cut down video already taped on the hard drive. I know two of my machines let me do this but my Panny E80 doesn't. If a show is taping I just have to wait until all is done before I can edit or cut video out. My hard drive on the E80 fills up quick because I can't cut video down while new stuff is taping. How is this machine? Is it like the old E80 and you can't edit while something is being recorded or did they change things and you can edit video (like cut out commercials) at the same time that a new program is being recorded?

Just like most DVD recorders (but unlike most VCRs) the RF out is merely a pass through for the RF in - you have to use one of the other outputs (s-video, HDMI, or composite) to view VHS.

You can't edit while recording another show to the HDD, but if you are dubbing from the HDD to a Disc and a program is scheduled to record, the program will record while dubbing continues. While you can't edit while recording, you CAN add chapter stops to recordings that reside on the HDD while recording another program. This at least allows you to set the edit points on recorded programs in advance while recording another program, but you can't actually edit (cut or divide a title) until the ongoing recording is finished.

Let me try to get this straight. I did find in the manual today that it said that you can't edit a program while it is recording. That I figured. If a show is taping live you can't start cutting it down. You would have to wait until that show is over. I never found in the manual today about editing after that in regards to also recording a new show at the same time.

For example, I tape a show from 8:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. and then tape a second show from 9:00 until 10:00 on a different channel. I push the record button at 9:00 for an hour until 10:00 p.m. Now what I'm guessing you are saying is that since I started this new recording from 9:00 until 10:00 I can't go to the hard drive and start cutting out the commercials from the 8:00 - 9:00 p.m. first show that just finished recording and is sitting on the hard drive. I can only watch it. I would have to wait until the second show (9-10 p.m) was all done before I could edit even just the 8-9 p.m. first show. Am I reading you right?

If so that's the same thing my old Panny E80 does. I thought they might change that. On that machine, if I record anything then the edit function becomes unavailable until I'm done taping. All I can do is watch previously taped shows on the HDD. Sometimes, I get a hard drive filled with stuff that I would like to cut down to make room for new stuff being recorded -- even while new stuff is being recorded at the same time. With my Panny I'm forced to just sit by or watch something else until the show is over. So, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think I'm reading that the Panny E75 still does that same trick from the old E80 days.

Also, I was suprised about no RF output. I knew DVD recorders had RF pass only but VCR had real working RF output. I got a no name combo/recorder unit and it has true RF output. I thought this was because of the VCR section of the unit. So, I thought since this has a VCR it must have a working RF output. That suprised me.

Thanks for letting me know about all that info! I couldn't find the second question in the manual at all.

Again, while you can't edit during recording, you can set chapter/edit stops on pre-existing recorded programs AND the program that is currently recording. Other than dubbing the edited program to disc, setting the editing points is what I have found to be the most time consuming portion of editing on a DVD recorder anyway. Once the recording stops, since you have already set the edit points, its just a quick matter of navigating to each edit point, snip, snip, snip and then high speed dubbbing to disc and you are done. So there is a significant, time consuming portion of editing that you can do during recording.

Sounds like a plan to me. Any machine, regardless of brand or model, may have its own unique way of accomplishing essentially the same thing.

For those of you thinking about getting a Panasonic DMR-EH75 VHS/DVD/HDD recorder, now might be the time.

Aside from the fact that HDD DVD recorders are disappearing rapidly from the retail market, CircuitCity is offering a $50 rebate for on-line purchases, which can be picked up at a local CC.

The $50 rebate brings the price down to $379.99 + tax, with either free shipping or in store pick up. MUST BE PURCHASED ON LINE -- NOT IN THE STORE.

If you're interested JUMP ON IT NOW, as the rebate ends on March 14!!!

Thanks for the heads-up! I've just ordered it and will pick it up at my nearest CC this afternoon. After completing the order and getting my confirmation, the "availability" page showed "Out of Stock" at this store, so it looks like I got their floor sample. :eek:

Actually, I think my current Panasonic E85 was a floor sample when I bought it 2.5 years ago from the same store, and I haven't had any problems with it, so I'm not too worried.

I was hoping that a good DVDR with HDD and ATSC tuner would have at least been announced by now. But with Panasonic apparently not going to produce any new HDD units, and none of the other "majors" (Pioneer, Toshiba, Samsung, Sony) having announced any either, it looks like I'm going to have to wait a while. I've been worried about the the E85 possibly going kaput in the meantime. So I decided to get the EH75VS and keep the E85 as a backup. It will also let me remove that VCR from the AV cabinet.

Even though I'm OTA only, I do all my recording by dubbing from a HD DVR (Sony DHG-HDD500) via the line inputs, so it doesn't bother me that the tuner will be useless in two years. According to the manual, it looks like I'll still be able to set the clock manually and do manually-programmed recordings after the analog TVGOS signal stops.

so it looks like I got their floor sample. :eek:

I needn't have worried. It was actually a factory-sealed box with everything inside, packed the way I'd expect. The floor sample was still on the shelf, with the original $519 pricetag next to it, and no sale price.

Even though I'm not going to record off the air with this unit, and won't need its TVGOS, I went through the TVGOS setup anyway, just to see how the listings turn out tomorrow. The TVGOS software looks almost the same as on my Sony HD DVR, and somewhat different from my Panasonic E85. I made a short recording to the HDD in SP mode, dubbing the local news on a local HD channel that does an excellent job of upconverting SD material, and compared it to the same material recorded on the E85. I couldn't see any significant difference. I'll try some HD material later.

Got a email from a friend last night she picked one up at a local store (brand new) for $299. So I called all 4 Don Quijote stores on the island of Oahu, Hi. She told me that was their everyday low price and she brought the last one from the Pearl City store. So I called the Waipahu Store and they had one left. The Kaheka store had 2 left and the Kailua store had 4 left. I called them all before 6:30am. I was told by the Waipahu and Pearl City stores they think they might get more in but was not sure. I went down to the Kaheka store and brought the last two they had. My father wanted one and today is also Senior Citizen Discount day. She we got 5% off each EH-75V. So the price was $284.05 each before tax.

This afternoon I called the Kaheka store again and spoke to a different person and she said they got more in. So that means the other stores must of gotten in a shipment. This might be the last batch. I am not to happy about the small HD. But will use this as a backup for my E-500 if it has to go in for repairs and my E-80 which I think is on it's last legs.

I've spent a couple of days playing with my new EH75, and I'm satisfied with it as an upgrade from my E85. I've moved it into my main cabinet as a replacement for the E85 and swapped all the cables over. I'm keeping the E85 as a spare until a decent DVD recorder with HDD and ATSC tuner appears.

The TVGOS downloaded OK the first night, with the same total number of channels (494) as my Sony HD DVR. Over 300 of them were cable channels, and were all turned off by default because I'm OTA only, so they didn't appear in the active listings. The rest were OTA, both analog and digital, covering an area from Raleigh NC to Atlanta GA, including eastern TN. The software made a pretty good guess about which channels to turn on, probably based on my ZIP code and on which channels were found in the initial channel scan. I just had to tweak them a bit (for example to use channel 10 from Columbia SC instead of from Knoxville TN), then arrange them in my preferred order.

When I put the unit in the cabinet where I had the E85, I discovered that it's deeper than the E85, so that a panel at the side of the back opening of the cabinet blocks the antenna input. I wasn't planning to record directly OTA anyway, just dub from my HD DVR, so I reset the unit, skipped the initial TVGOS setup (by hitting RETURN instead of ENTER at the introductory screen), and set the clock manually under FUNCTIONS --> SETUP. The next time I turned the unit on, it nagged me to set up TVGOS; then again when I hit the SCHEDULE button to set up a recording. After a few attempts it shut up and I've been able to use it in manual-recording mode without any trouble. The clock has stayed accurate for two days so far, but I expect it will drift a bit eventually.

Pluses:

1. The editing interface is very similar to the E85, as is the dubbing interface (except that it's called "copying" on this unit).

2. Dubbing speeds are faster.

3. The built-in VCR and SD-card reader might come in handy.

4. It has the same number of inputs as the E85, so I didn't have to rework the rest of my A/V setup.

5. It can record to a wider variety of media than the E85, which can handle only DVD-R and DVD-RAM.

6. It boots up faster from standby mode than the E85 does, so it works better with my Harmony remote.

Minuses:

1. The HDD is smaller, 80 GB instead of 120 GB on the E85. This isn't a problem for me because I don't use this unit for timeshifting. The HDD is just a holding area for programs that await commercial-excision and/or dubbing to DVD.

2. It makes more noise when dubbing (the price of faster dubbing speeds, I guess).


The recorded picture quality seems to be pretty much the same on both units, dubbing downrezzed HD material and high-quality SD material from my HD DVR.

I just got mine and trying to adjust how it works differently from my E80H and EH50.

If I schedule a recording from TV Guide and then go to recording settings, it is always on SP. Is there a way to change the default? I thought it should use the record setting shown on the display (which is what is used if I hit the record button while watching tv).

I have mixed emotions about how to skip across days on the tv guide (entering a number and then say skip days/hours). Would be nice to have the +24 hours like on the EH50 so I can go from one day to the next. Is there no other shortcut key to skip +24?

Also I've noticed little difference in watching the E80 on my Sony SXRD set (50") and the 75. I have the E80 on S-Video and 75 on component (I also tried hdmi), Guessing, it's how the Sony tv handles SD inputs? Although just watching analog channels on the tv tuner look much better than from the Pannys. HDMI didn't help much on VHS or HDD recordings, maybe more suited for movie dvds? I decided to switch the 75 to component since my HD cable dvd shows much better picture on hdmi.

thanks

Phil,

If I schedule a recording from TV Guide and then go to recording settings, it is always on SP. Is there a way to change the default? I thought it should use the record setting shown on the display (which is what is used if I hit the record button while watching tv).

Go to TVGOS, go to the service bar (you can get their from anywhere in TVGOS by pressing the submenu button on the remote and selecting service bar). On the service bar navigate to SETUP. Select Record Defaults on the SETUP screen and you can select the record mode default as well as the start and stop time offsets in minutes.

I missed the +24hr shortcut also. But just entering 1 or 24 brings up the skip screen (like you mentioned) so it's not too cumbersome and actually more flexible than the old shortcut so I like it better now.

Phil,



Go to TVGOS, go to the service bar (you can get their from anywhere in TVGOS by pressing the submenu button on the remote and selecting service bar). On the service bar navigate to SETUP. Select Record Defaults on the SETUP screen and you can select the record mode default as well as the start and stop time offsets in minutes.

I missed the +24hr shortcut also. But just entering 1 or 24 brings up the skip screen (like you mentioned) so it's not too cumbersome and actually more flexible than the old shortcut so I like it better now.


thanks!

Aside from the fact that HDD DVD recorders are disappearing rapidly from the retail market, CircuitCity is offering a $50 rebate for on-line purchases, which can be picked up at a local CC.

The $50 rebate brings the price down to $379.99 + tax

I was in CC Saturday to pick up a xd camera card and while walking around the store I saw that they had an EH75 floor model marked down to 279 and it had been marked down about 5 times, so I said to salesman that I would buy it for 250, sold. The guy said it had never been hooked up and had all the accessories.

I hooked it up last night and other than the stupid TV Guide it seems to be working fine. With the TV Guide I'll probably have to just let it try and fail as I did on the other one I have and then just set the recordings manually.

Never had a problem with TVGuide. So far anyway. Good job on finding a "new" unit for a great price.

But now to my problem. Twice now in the last year, my recorder starts ignoring my remote control. It usually seems to happen when I'm jumping through menus using the remote. I don't know if it's when there's a dvd in it, or I've been recording, or hitting buttons too fast, or something, what I'm not exactly sure. The few buttons on the front of the recorder keep working. The only fix appears to be to unplug the power cable for a few minutes and then let the unit go all the way through setup again. Then it responds normally to commands from the remote. It's not the remote's batteries.

Comments?

There's a firmware update on the Panasonic web site for the EH-75, perhaps that will correct this.

For a link, click here (http://www2.panasonic.com/consumer-electronics/support/Drivers-and-Downloads/list-DVD+Recorders).

By the way, the version for the update is IR-01. Sounds like it might be for the infrared remote (IR).

Thanks! I may try this if it happens again. Normally removing power isn't that bad of a fix, but it happened when I had company, so we couldn't watch a video. Slightly embarressing considering how proud I am of this unit.